For five years I taught in New York City as an elementary ESL teacher. I am currently teaching middle school English at an international school in Beirut, Lebanon. I may continue to post here occasionally or you can find my new blog at thepresentperfect.wordpress.com

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

I never thought I'd see the day that a snow day was called *in advance*. Remember last year we were all hoping for a snow day that wasn't called until 6 am after many teachers and students had already left for school. I was just out of the shower when a friend from school texted me to tell me the good news. Later, the mayor had the nerve to go on TV and say, regarding the people who complained he called it too late, that any "intelligent" person could look out their windows and see the amount of snow and *know* that schools would be closed.

So, we must be getting a heck of a lot of snow tomorrow. But at this point, it doesn't really matter how much it snows; we already got our snow day. Can't take it back now :)

I for one am prepared for tomorrow. I went grocery shopping today and I plan to enjoy my day off tomorrow. I'm gonna sleep in, watch some movies, and cook. Pancakes for breakfast, tomato soup and grilled cheese for lunch, and roast chicken for dinner. I can't wait!

Saturday, February 06, 2010

That's right, I got the job! The one I wanted so badly. The one that last August I knew I wanted and just assumed I would apply to and get so I could go back to Lebanon. The one that later seemed SO impossible to get with all the candidates that were going to be at the fair. But it really did happen. I got the job in Beirut!

I'm going to be teaching middle school ESL/ELA. It's going to be a HUGE change for me. I'm definitely going to miss the little ones but I think a change will do me good. The school year starts in September but I'll probably try to get there sometime in August so I can enjoy a bit of the Lebanese summer before work starts.

Thursday, February 04, 2010

So, here I am on the bus to Boston for the international school fair. I'm full of anticipation for the coming days. I've been thinking seriously about working at an international school for more than five years and now it is so close to happening. I've read up on the job fairs and how the work and recounted the information to untold numbers of people over the years and now here I am about to experience it for myself.

Over the past couple of weeks I've had time to research some of the schools a bit so that I have an idea of my options once I get to the fair. The second day of the fair there is a mad rush to schedule interviews with schools and you have to be strategic about who you interview with and when. If you have no idea which schools are going to be there it just makes the process that much more confusing. While looking at the schools that will be there I've managed to work up some excitement about schools not in the Middle East. Ecuador, Singapore, and Switzerland are just three places, for example, that have openings I could potentially interview for that sound exciting. Lebanon is still by far my first choice and I would take almost any teaching job to go there but I am starting to feel excited about other possibilities too. The tricky part will be deciding which of my back up ideas to choose if my first choice doesn't come through. Then again, if I don't find anything I like I can always stay in NYC. I have a job, an apartment, and I like my life.